


Chamberlain's Life Changing Story

by dondena



Category: The Dark Crystal (1982)
Genre: Hermaphrodites, Mpreg, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 22:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3505433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dondena/pseuds/dondena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some aliens from a different dimension come to Thra and give Chamberlain something that will change his life. (The aliens are somewhat based off of Star Wars. Human like, but still alien.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Based on the Dark Crystal movie and also based on many Dark  
Crystal books that I have read. And the alien men are based  
off of Star Wars. Imagine them as you will. Human like, but  
still an alien race. 

A group of scientists of an alien race had designed a new dimensional device to help them travel to different worlds and anywhere in time. The device also showed pictures of where they would go before they would even step through the portal.

Before long, they spotted a world in the picture box. It showed a dark castle in the distance, then it zoomed in more. It had weird shapes on it. Then the it went inside the castle to show the occupants who lived there. The scientists always checked on the occupants to see if a world was worth visiting. 

There were 10 occupants living there. They all were dressed in heavy robes, and their heads looked like vulture heads. They had two arms and were bipedal, though they had an extra set of arms that were dormant to use underneath the heavy robes.

To these alien scientists, these creatures surely looked interesting to study. Surely they could learn about them before maybe interacting with them. Their device would also take care of any language barrier problems. They would be able to communicate with them.

But first, they wanted to learn of these creatures. They also had belts that enabled them to go invisible should they have the need to escape or just not be seen. They knew until they found out more about these beings, they didn't want to be seen.

They got their supplies ready and entered the portal to this strange new world.  
...............

The planet was called Thra. 

The scientists entered the castle from through their portal. Everything they needed they were carrying on their backs. Until they knew their way around this castle, they weren't going to leave anything behind. There were 3 men. 

The Skeksis were now in the Crystal Chamber, having their daily Crystal cleansing to give them some energy. The men watched in interest. 

They saw that these creatures sure looked mean, though one in particular caught their attention. He had a smiling like face. He wore red and black robes.

The scientists would learn more of him and his companions, but keeping a watch on him in particular. They would stay here for a number of months and just study these beings and get to know their habits and learn about them. And each one of them would keep an eye on things when it was time for rest. They would take turns on watch duty throughout the sleep times. 

Once they got their energy in for the day, the Skeksis left the chamber and went about their daily duties.

The men were invisible to the Skeksis’ eyes. They followed the one that had caught their interest today.

They learned that he had a wheedling voice, and he had a constant hmming going on. They later learned that his name was SkekSil the Chamberlain, but he was mostly called Chamberlain. 

He had a habit of annoying the others when he was around. He was a sly one, and he tried to win the Emperor's favor constantly.

They also studied the others as well. Among them was a real nasty looking one called SkekUng the Garthim Master and General. He and the Chamberlain were particular rivals.

There was the tallest one, SkekZok the Ritual Master, who was also like a high priest. He did the daily ritual with the Crystal. 

SkekEkt the Ornamentalist was the most female like. Making clothes and practicing singing with some little Pod people. Practically spoke like a female too. 

SkekShod was the Treasurer. He bit gold and dealt with the jewelry and had very limited speech. 

SkekTek was their scientist. They saw he wasn't the nicest to other living beings and he walked with a limp and had a false arm. And he had a glowing eye.

SkekNa was the Slave Master. He had a false arm too and a bad eye as well. He also fed scraps to the other Skeksis when they were hungry between meals. And he was in control of the Pod slaves.

SkekOk was the Scroll Keeper and Historian. He wore 3 pairs of glasses. He sounded like an old man when he talked. And he was a constant liar.

SkekAyuk was the Gourmand. He made bowls for every meal and supplied the food at the meals. And he was a big eater more so than the others. The scientists also noticed he and SkekEkt shared a special bond.

Then there was SkekSo the Emperor. He was the most power hungry and vicious.

They saw that Chamberlain was pretty much ignored, and more of the others had more of the Emperor's favor. 

The Skeksis didn't treat each other with the best of respect either. They were all rude and crude to each other, though they just tried to get along the best they could without fighting, but they looked like they would enjoy a good fight.   
..............

Over time, the scientist aliens saw that Chamberlain was shunned by pretty much all of his clan. He hardly got his fair share of anything. Especially from the Emperor.

The scientists took pity on him. Though they found him to be so called a lord and he had a high ranking among his clan, somewhat below the Emperor, but he just didn't get that much recognition. And that was probably why he was whimpering all the time, for attention. 

The aliens were now deciding to take a matter into their own hands. To give him something special of his own. Being scientists, they were also biologists and such too. 

They had found that the Skeksis were also more lizard like too. They had bird like heads, but lizard bodies. 

The aliens went back to their home dimension to get additional medicines and sedatives. If this gift was going to work, they needed this stuff. They even brought along a portable ultrasound machine.

Some species of lizards were known to change sexes if there was far too many of the same sex. The men were thinking of giving the Chamberlain an exam while he was sedated and see what the internals organs looked like and if it was possible, could they add to the number of Skeksis? 

Once they had everything they needed, the men went back to the castle in Thra and now that they knew their way around the castle, they left the main stuff in the lower corridors of the castle, as the Skeksis didn't exactly go in the sewer like areas.

They knew Chamberlain's whereabouts most of the day, and at times he would venture off alone, and he did happen to get close to the lower areas of the castle alone. Now they were just going to have to wait and get him alone. Though the men were sure the other Skeksis wouldn't miss the Chamberlain's presence while they examined him and did their thing. 

It took a few hours to wait him out, but soon, the men could hear him coming. They knew it was him because of the whimpering. He even did it when he was alone. The men prepared a dart gun. It was a soundless kind of gun.

They had a dart full of sedative ready and they were just waiting for the Skeksis to get in the right spot to dart him. They were sure it wouldn't harm him any and that it should affect him the way it would any lizard.


	2. Chapter 2

The Chamberlain was wandering the halls, going on to his next job around the castle, though he felt miserable that another idea of how to gain the Emperor's favor back had failed again.

He went on looking at the floor, not minding much of anything when out of nowhere, he felt a sharp prick in his neck. He couldn't help but scream in pain.

His left hand went up to his neck to feel at the sore spot and he felt something, then he pulled at it and it came out of his skin. He looked at the needle and bottle with a mad glare.

Chamberlain had only seen needles when they were used for sewing clothes, and that was usually the Ornamentalist's job. But he wasn't anywhere around this part of the castle at this time of day.

"Shouldn't we go and get him now?" One of the men asked.

"No wait. We wait until the drug takes effect and he's out first. We don't want him to see us just yet." The leader said quietly.

The men continued to watch the Skeksis as the drug took effect.

As Chamberlain looked around for signs of where this thing could have come from, all of a sudden, he noticed his vision began to get blurry on him.

He shook his head, but it only got worse. He whimpered as dizziness began to come on too. He put a hand on his head. Now he wasn't feeling so good.

He tried walking away from the spot to maybe confront SkekEkt about this needle, but he was beginning to stumble in his walking attempts. He could see the wall and made it to the wall and placed a hand on the wall to steady himself, but as the drug got stronger, Chamberlain just felt so tired.

His legs gave way and he fell to his knees, his hands landing in all fours way and the needle rolled away from his hand. Chamberlain moaned and whimpered some more.

"Oh, what's wrong with me?" SkekSil asked himself.

He tried to stay awake, but it was too much. Finally, he fell to his left side, out cold.

"Finally! I thought he'd never go out!" The one man said.

"Now let's get him down here without having to worry about the others seeing us." The leader said.

The 3 men went over to the unconscious Skeksis and nudged him to make sure he was sleeping completely. His breathing was stable and he didn't stir. The men got to work with lifting him into the quiet of the lower floors where they could work in peace.

Chamberlain wasn't too heavy to lift, but heavy enough. The robes made him look bigger than he really was.

Once they had him down in the catacombs, they laid him down gently on his back. They laid his head on a pillow one of them supplied. Then they got to work.

Starting at the legs, they began to pull the clothing up to reveal Chamberlain's underside. It wasn't the prettiest site, but they needed to examine the organs in his lower body. But they did raise the clothing up enough to see what he had on his front side.

He did look a little fat in the belly, and above that, Chamberlain did actually have breasts too.

To the men, this did ask a question whether or not the Skeksis was part female or not. They were about to find out by getting a look at the internal organs.

The ultrasound machine was started up and gelled up, as was Chamberlain's belly.

These men were experts in lizard studies, so they knew what to look for if this Skeksis was anything like lizards back home.

The man doing the ultrasound found some digestive organs and then found what looked to be the reproductive organs. Chamberlain had both male and female organs inside him.

"Wow! He does have female organs too. We have to give that to him. He's a hermaphrodite! The others must be too."

"So what are we going to do?"

"We are going to give Chamberlain something to call his own for a change. Babies!"

"But which Skeksis is going to be the father if he's going to be the mother?"

"Chamberlain will be both parents. We collect sperm from his male organs and inject them into the female organs. I'll give him some hormones to make the female organs active and ovulate. We are going to do this all now. Then we'll wait a few weeks and see what happens."

One man was watching Chamberlain's breathing. While the leader was getting the hormones ready and collection tubes, the last man kept the probe on SkekSil's belly.

The leader, once he was ready, got the Skeksis sexually aroused in his sleep, and collected some semen from him. He then examined it by microscope. There were plenty of fertile sperm in the semen.

Then he prepared the semen for injection into the female organs. But first, he gave Chamberlain an injection in the side that would stimulate the ovaries to ovulate eggs. Very carefully, the man injected the semen through Chamberlain's belly and into the female reproductive tract. He didn't want to mess with the nether parts.

"You sure that will be enough sperm in there, Boss?" The man assisting with the ultrasound asked.

"It should be. Lizards can store sperm if needed. Now all we can do is wait. If it doesn't work this time, then we'll try again in a month or so. Just watch for any signs it took, like if he doesn't feel well later on and such. Pregnant creatures often don't feel good in the beginning."

Once the exam was over, Chamberlain was cleaned up and taken back up to the place where he went down. Then he was given the wake up drug. He had stayed unconscious the whole time and his vitals had remained okay.

The men gathered their stuff and left SkekSil alone. His clothing had also been pulled down again so he wouldn't suspect anything had happened to him. The men would only continue to watch him, and more now that they were hoping that he would get pregnant.

They suspected he might get pregnant with eggs, but it was possible for live birth too. But first, it was just the waiting.

...

Chamberlain soon came around. He was dizzy in the head, and his vision was blurry at first, but when it focused again, he saw he was lying on the floor in the hallway.

"What am I doing here?" He asked to no one.

SkekSil slowly and dizzily got to his feet with the help of leaning on the wall. He whined with the feeling he had in his head. He didn't feel good right now.

Chamberlain made some clumsy steps as he was trying to go about his business again. He had now forgotten all about that needle. He just wanted to get out of here.

After he was gone, the men collected that needle. None of the other Skeksis could see it or know about it. Especially not the Scientist.

Chamberlain ended up stumbling to his bedroom instead of going to dinner. His vision still had blurry moments and he was dizzy. If he ate now, he felt he was going to be sick. Chamberlain just had a real early turn in. He knew the others wouldn't miss him, though he had no idea what time of day it was. He had been out for a little while. Even his stomach felt kind of funky.

...

At the dinner table, none of the others missed SkekSil's whining voice, though the Emperor did ask if anyone had seen him. Nods of no and sayings of no were heard.

The clan just wanted a good enough peaceful dinner without the annoying one there.

...

After dinner, there were a few more chores to do before bedtime.

The Historian was on his way back to his library when he happened to pass by the Chamberlain's room. He heard the whimpering voice and heavy breathing.

He looked into the dark room and saw the bundle under the blankets. Chamberlain was in his own room. He had missed dinner, now that was unusual for him.

Most of the time, the Skeksis were not in their bedrooms during the day unless they were sleeping and didn't feel well. This was the case of SkekSil.

The Historian went into his room and woke him up. "Chamberlain! Wake up!"

"Hmmm! Wha?" He moaned.

"The Emperor asked where you were at dinner. You missed dinner." Historian said.

"Hmmm. Not feel good. Just want to sleep." Chamberlain replied. He laid his head back down.

"Fine. But it won't be good if the Emperor is needing you." Historian said and walked out of the room.

Chamberlain sighed. Did the Emperor need him right now? He could talk to him later. He didn't talk to him that much anyway. He went back to sleep, hoping that in the morning he would feel better.

...

In the morning, Chamberlain woke up feeling better now that he had slept off the drug. He felt hungry too and went down for some breakfast.

He saw the stares he got from the others, though they mainly ignored him. But the Emperor had mind to talk to him this morning.

"So Chamberlain, where were you last night?" The Emperor demanded.

"I, uh, went to sleep early, Sire. I got sick last night. I'm better now and ready if you need me." Chamberlain explained.

"Fine. Just do your duties after breakfast. Just so unusual for you to miss a meal." The Emperor said.

"Hmmm." SkekSil whined. He knew what he had to do around here.


	3. Chapter 3

Things never changed much in the castle over the next few weeks. Every Skeksis went about their daily life and only came together for the meals and daily Crystal gathering. 

The Garthim were sent out like every other day to gather food and Pod People to turn into more slaves. 

But something had changed a little more for Chamberlain. He began to get sick a lot more and ended up staying in bed for a majority of each day, and some of his duties didn't get done. 

He had dizziness problems, nausea in his stomach and felt if he ate anything, he would bring his food back up. He got moodier. He snapped at nearly everyone, and they were not so pleasant right back at him. 

It would often take a few days before SkekSil felt hungry enough to eat anything, and when he did, it wasn't long before he felt sick to his stomach again.

Even though he had always been a whiner, now Chamberlain's whimpers were more out of pain than just nothing at all. 

Chamberlain would try to go on in his day as much as he could, especially when it involved his Emperor. But the nausea would sooner or later make him go to bed. 

The others were noticing something strange was going on with SkekSil and the whimpers were more annoying than ever, as well as louder. He was sick a lot to his stomach and felt tired and dizzy. 

With the sick symptoms not seeming to go away any time soon, Chamberlain hoped he wasn't dying. He had seen his fellow Skeksis catch bad diseases and such and there had been no cure and had died over the centuries.

SkekUng was also keeping a stronger eye on him and if Chamberlain was dying, he would be one less rival to deal with.   
.........

Chamberlain had been hoping he could beat the nausea, but he finally couldn't take it anymore after more than 14 days of this illness. He ended up going to the Scientist's lab to ask for herbs to help settle the nausea that he constantly had. 

SkekTek reluctantly gave him something to help settle his stomach, and Chamberlain greedily ate them. They were gross, but if they would help, they were worth the effort.

The herbs helped a little bit, just enough for Chamberlain to get through the days of work. He could only seem to manage to eat dinner in the evening, but then, he was in for restless nights of throwing up and just trying to sleep, which he didn't get much of.

He started taking the herbs twice a day. Chamberlain now had late starts to his days as he needed the extra sleep in the mornings. He tried hard to keep his food down, but it wasn't easy. He knew he needed to eat. 

But Chamberlain always did make it in time for the Crystal gathering every day at midday.

The sickness went on for a long time, and the Scientist was getting curious as to what was happening, though Chamberlain denied him every time as to what was wrong with him. He knew what the Scientist was capable of and he wasn't about to become his test subject.

"You ask for my herbs, and this illness has been going on long enough Chamberlain. You want more of my herbs, you will let me examine you." SkekTek made it clear to him if he wanted more herbs. 

"You will not touch me, SkekTek! I will not become your experiment!" SkekSil fought back. "Fine! I'll go on without them!" 

"Fine! Have fun being sick then!" The Scientist laughed on his way out.

Chamberlain growled on his way out of the lab. His stomach gave a churn and he whimpered. He looked down and placed a hand on his stomach. "What happened to you? You never used to be like this." He asked his nervous stomach. 

Another churn and then he grabbed at his beak and ran as fast as he could to the nearest place to get rid of his food. 

Chamberlain knew this couldn't go on. He didn't want the Scientist getting anywhere near him, though it would be nice to have something to go on in what was making him sick so much. 

He didn't want to die, but his illness felt like it was killing him. If only he knew what was really going on. 

One day when he was in the presence of the Emperor, trying to do his duty to him, he ended up getting sick and he couldn't stop it. 

"Chamberlain! That is enough! From now on, you are stripped of your duties and are to stay in your room until this problem passes!" The Emperor yelled at him.

"But what if something happens to me?" Chamberlain asked.

"SkekTek is to examine you and see what could be causing this. That's an order!" SkekSo declared. 

"No! I'll stay in my room, Sire, but SkekTek is not touching me!" Chamberlain tried to defend himself. He turned and left the room in a hurry.

"So do I still get to examine him Sire?" The Scientist asked.

"If you can catch him." The Emperor said. 

At this point, even the other Skeksis were willing to help catch the Chamberlain and hold him down if they had to. 

SkekUng wanted to see his rival suffer, and it was amazing he had gone on this long with the illness and not died from it. Most of the others were dead after being sick for so long.   
......

SkekSil had retreated to his room. He knew he was going to be so bored in here with nothing to do besides stay in bed, but he was too sick.

But then, the other Skeksis came into his room, with Scientist among them. 

"Chamberlain, the Emperor has ordered this. You are not getting out of this. This has gone on long enough!" SkekZok said, who was in the lead, with SkekUng beside him first.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice, Chamberlain." SkekTek said.

"No! You are not touching me!" Chamberlain said, panic clearly in his voice, and he began backing away. 

The others began to advance on him. They backed him into one of the corners in his room and there was no escape. They grabbed his arms and pulled him to the bed.

Chamberlain screamed and pulled to try to get away from them, but the others forced him onto his own bed and forced him to lay down. 

"NO! Don't do this to me!" He screamed. 

Some of his clothes were forced up on him, revealing his belly, since his stomach was mostly the problem. 

The others held him down while SkekTek examined his belly. After looking, he didn't see anything wrong physically, but he realized it had to do with something internally.

"I may need to go inside and see what the problem is." The Scientist said. 

The others didn't exactly want to see that, but the Chamberlain would otherwise be forced to the lab if they needed to take him there.

"NO! Let me go!" SkekSil cried at the top of his lungs. "Just let me rest. I'll be fine!"

"Something has to be wrong internally. I will see to the problem personally. Take him to the lab." 

The others began to get him to his feet and his clothes were pushed back down.

Chamberlain saw his chance to break free and he took it. He got out of his room and ran for the lower catacombs. 

"Let him go. If he dies, he dies." SkekUng said. 

The others didn't follow him, though SkekTek had wanted to see what the problem was.   
........

Chamberlain ran into the catacombs beneath the castle and stayed there. All the stress he just went through didn't help and he got sick again. 

"Why won't this go away? I want to get better." He said.

He had to sit down and calm down. He just didn't know why this was happening to him. He had never been this sick before in his life.

Chamberlain stayed down there for a few days, just to make sure that SkekTek wasn’t going to get his hands on him. He would listen for the others, but they never came down here to look for him. 

He stayed down there until the feelings of hunger got to be too strong for him. He had tried to ignore it the best he could, but now his stomach felt like it was going to tear him apart. It had been 3 days since his last meal.

As much as he wanted to eat something, he just knew though that he was going to get sick again. But he wasn’t going to starve himself. 

Cautiously, Chamberlain wandered up from the catacombs and went to the Slave Master’s quarters. 

The Slave Master was alerted to Chamberlain’s company when he whimpered coming in.

“Still alive huh?” SkekNa scoffed.

“Yes, and wanting food.” SkekSil replied. 

“Well again?” 

“Well enough.” 

“Just make sure the Emperor doesn’t see that again.” 

“I know not to let him see it, but I can’t help it. Just give me the food.” SkekSil demanded. 

The Slave Master let him have the scraps so he could be on his way, as he didn’t want him getting sick in here. 

Chamberlain went to his room and ate the scraps. For now, he knew he wasn’t welcome to be out and about very much feeling like this. He would still go to the Crystal gathering every day, though he had missed it for the past 3 days, just trying to avoid the Scientist. But for now, he was only going to rely on scraps for his meals.

In theory, maybe smaller meals might keep the sickness down and less throwing up would happen. 

It was a big pain having to stay in his room most of the day. He only left it for Crystal ceremony, to grab food, and relieve himself. But even with the smaller meals, he still couldn’t help himself as he still got sick.


	4. Chapter 4

The sickness went on for a few more weeks. As soon as he had passed his 13th week, the symptoms started to subside a lot more. 

When Chamberlain realized he was getting better again, he began to eat more and more, as he was having bigger cravings now. 

He went to the Emperor in hopes of getting his jobs back and being able to eat meals again at the table. 

The Emperor said he could as long as he was promised that the illness was gone. SkekSil assured him it was. 

The General wouldn’t have minded if the Chamberlain had died from his illness that had seemed like it was terminal, but Chamberlain had somehow managed to beat it. 

Chamberlain got his duties back and was more than happy to be doing them. Plus with this new time, he had also gained a lot of energy back.   
…….

Around this time, the alien men decided it was time to return and see if their experiment had worked. They had all their supplies ready, and they would do what they did last time. Wait the Skeksis out and dart him, then drag him to their private place and examine him.

They had said they would come back in a month, but it had been 3 months here on Thra since they had last been here. 

They waited for their moment. 

Chamberlain had to pass through this hallway every night. He whimpered even when he was alone. 

The men heard him passing through now. They got the dart gun ready with the tranquilizer.

Chamberlain passed through at the right moment and then the needle was sent into his neck again. 

The Skeksis screamed in pain. Again, he pulled the needle out of his neck, and once again, he passed out from the drug. 

Then he was carried below for his exam.

His head was laid on a pillow and one man would stay up by his head to monitor his breathing and make sure he stayed asleep. 

The clothes on his front were pulled up to expose the belly. 

As they looked at his belly, the men didn’t see much difference in size much at all.  
Maybe it did look a little thinner though, as Chamberlain hadn’t eaten much in his time of being sick, or he had, but he just couldn’t keep anything down long enough.

The other two men prepared the belly for examination and the ultrasound machine. SkekSil’s belly was gelled up and the probe was put on him to see if there were any babies inside. It didn’t take long to locate what they were looking for. 

“Look there! There’s a baby in there alright!” The lead man said.

Both the others looked and could see one baby Skeksis. It was small and looked nearly formed. And with more moving of the probe, the lead man also found there was another baby beside it! 

The test had actually worked! Chamberlain was carrying twins! 

He moved the probe around some more to see if there were any more. He found none. Then he checked to see if they were going to be live birth or born in eggs. He didn’t see any egg development. It was official; live birth when the time came to have them. 

“So how far along do you think they are?” The man across from the leader asked.

“They looked to be at least 3 months along. Time must have went faster here than we thought.” Leader replied.

Chamberlain was then cleaned up, his vitals checked, and taken back to where he was found. He was given the reversal drug and the men left him alone to recover.

When he came around, Chamberlain found that he was once again, on the floor in the same hallway. He had no idea why he was having this fainting spell. He remembered when it had happened once before, but it had been awhile, back before he got sick. But he was well again and why did it happen again and in the same hallway?

He also remembered being pricked in the neck with a sharp needle. He looked around for it but didn’t find it. If he didn’t have proof of it, none of the others would believe him. So he wouldn’t tell the others. He would just be more watchful that it didn’t happen again.   
........

Over the next several days, Chamberlain was very wary as he passed through the hallway by the catacombs. Nothing happened. Maybe it was because he was watching could be why it wasn’t happening again. 

The men were still around. They watched Chamberlain’s every move. If he was indeed in his second trimester, it wouldn’t be long before the babies would begin to be felt whenever they moved. They wanted to be around for that. 

But they realized that maybe it was time that the Skeksis knew he was carrying babies that was the answer to all his problems. So they would plan to grab him and keep him awake next time when they wanted to examine him. But they needed additional supplies so they could get him down to the catacombs without making a struggle too much, but they didn’t doubt that he would struggle.


	5. Chapter 5

Weeks passed, and nothing changed much in the Skeksis’ lives. 

There were Garthim hunts for food and Pod slaves. The Skeksis bullied each other and had meals, the Crystal ceremony, and just did their jobs around the Castle.

After so long of nothing happening, Chamberlain was now relaxed again and didn’t pay attention in that hallway anymore. He just minded his own business again.

Chamberlain was full of energy right now and was craving a lot of food big time. He ate a lot more now and could definitely keep his food down again, and even though he didn’t know it, he was getting bigger in the stomach too. The twins were getting big. And it wouldn’t be long before Chamberlain would begin to feel them move. 

When he passed his 18th week, Chamberlain did begin to feel strange sensations in his stomach. 

“No! Not again! Please not again!” He pleaded with his stomach. “I don’t need to be sick again.” 

But this time, he didn’t end up sick despite the new feelings stirring inside him. But he was going to be watching himself very carefully that it didn’t happen again.

Another two weeks went by and the stirrings got stronger. Chamberlain was constantly looking down at his belly, wondering what was going on inside him. Though he only did it when he was alone and he didn’t let it disturb him when he was working.

The stirrings were strongest after meals and at bedtime. 

The men were noticing SkekSil’s strange looks and in behavior. Now was the time to get another look at those twins and let the pregnant Skeksis know about what he carried so he could make the connection and take better care of himself.

The best time of day to catch him would be when he was down near the catacombs when he was on his way to his room. The men got ready one night to jump him.

Chamberlain was on his way to his room when he was passing by the catacomb entrance when all of a sudden, three creatures jumped him so fast that he barely knew what was going on as his eyes were one of the first things covered up. 

He couldn’t help but scream in fear and his arms were grabbed and tied quickly while he was still screaming, “Get away! Let go! Help!” 

“Shut up!” The lead man grabbed Chamberlain’s mouth and held it shut until he could put some rope around it to keep him from screaming anymore. “Now move!” 

Chamberlain put up a struggle every step, but he was pushed from behind, though it was gentle. But he couldn’t see and didn’t have much choice as his hands were restrained and mouth tied shut.

He stepped on some rocks down in the catacombs and knew where he had been taken. But he wouldn’t stop screaming even with his mouth tied closed.

“Be quiet! They won’t hear you!” 

“If you don’t be quiet right now, we’ll have to use a more forceful method, Skeksis.”

Chamberlain went on making sounds. “Let me go!” He said, though it was muffled.

He was scared to death right now. He didn’t know who or what these creatures were and what they wanted with him. He had seen that they had been about his size before he had been blindfolded. 

“You’re now right where we want you. Now to business.” Chamberlain heard.

Chamberlain’s breathing was fast and heavy right now. His heart had picked up and he could feel it hammering against his ribs. He couldn’t help but gulp in fear. He had no idea what they were going to do to him.

He whimpered in fear. 

“Now get on your knees.” 

Chamberlain froze and didn’t move, but he did try to resist again. He wasn’t about to kneel before them. 

“Chamberlain, don’t make this harder on yourself. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.” 

His eyes widened under the blindfold. How did they know his name? He held still. 

“Come on now. Like we said, we can use the forceful way if you don’t do as we say.” 

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the cover on his eyes and rope on his mouth. His cries were a little louder now. 

“Alright, that does it!” 

Chamberlain thought he heard the sound of something metal, like a knife being slipped out of a sheath, but he kept on struggling. Then he felt one of his hands being grabbed and then a sharp sting of pain. 

He screamed in pain. 

“Now you see we are not kidding around. Now do as we say or it could get much worse than this!”   
…..

In the valley some distance away, the Chanter saw he was bleeding. He proceeded to have it patched up.  
…..

Chamberlain could feel he was bleeding. If they were going to hurt him more if he didn’t do as they said, he knew they could be bound to kill him. He didn’t want to die. He reluctantly surrendered by obeying. 

“Now get down on your knees.” Came the order again. 

He whimpered, but kneeled down. He felt like they were going to make him their servant or something. But he didn’t expect to be told to lay down next.

“Lay down onto your back.” 

More whimpering continued. He didn’t want to lie down and make himself completely vulnerable. He tried to make another escape attempt, but he was quickly grabbed by the arms and then forced down onto his back. 

He screamed some more as he was now held down. “Let me go!” He tried to say.

His breathing was so fast and he was now terrified of what they were going to do to him next. 

He felt his injured hand grabbed and he instantly yelped.

Chamberlain heard some shuffling about around him and then he felt something soft make contact with the wound. He instantly tried to resist by pulling his hand away, but they had a firm grip on it. 

He moaned in pain. The wound throbbed as the men cleaned it and then bandaged it. They weren’t going to let the wound get infected.

Then his hand was released. “There. All set to heal now. But we had to let you know we were serious, Skeksis. Now on to the next order of business.” 

Chamberlain swallowed hard. He whimpered. He could feel his hand throbbing. What were they going to do next? 

They began moving the clothing up on his front. SkekSil felt what they were doing and again, more struggling.

“No!” He cried with a tied mouth. 

Then he heard the metal again. He instantly froze. “Stop moving or you’ll get a wound in your other hand, or one of your legs.” 

Chamberlain held still, just trying to breathe. Then he heard the order, “Get some more rope. Tie his legs up too.” 

“Now don’t move. The knife is being held close to your head right now.”

At hearing that, SkekSil didn’t move. But he did hear more shuffling near him and then more of his clothing was moved up and his feet were now being tied up he could feel.   
When they were done, he knew he couldn’t get up and he was at their mercy. He whined in fear.

Then he felt the clothing being lifted up further to reveal his vulnerable underside. He could feel the cool air on his belly as soon as it was exposed.

‘What are you going to do to me?’ He asked in his mind.

He heard more shuffling.

“Here, give me that tube.” He heard. 

All of a sudden, he felt a touch on his abdomen and he instantly flinched. His breathing picked up again.

“This won’t hurt much at all, but this must be done, Chamberlain.”

He whined. He could feel the hand become two hands and they rubbed on his belly. His belly was also a bit more bigger now.

He tried to move his legs some more, but they were pushed away.

“Don’t, please.” Chamberlain tried to say.

“Ok, hand me the tube.”

Chamberlain gulped. Then he heard something squeaky, and then he felt something slimy and cold now being put onto his belly. He couldn’t help but bare his teeth in grimace. It was so cold. He couldn’t help but shiver. 

“Now here comes the fun part.” 

The hands had been taken off his stomach now, and in their place came the probe.

Chamberlain could feel a device being held on his stomach. It was pressed onto his belly a bit for results. 

“Oh, I see it!” Another man said. 

What were they looking at? 

“It looks nice and big compared to the last time I saw it. And its moving!” 

While he had been struggling and trying to get away, Chamberlain had even felt the stirrings from within his belly. But now, it had been much stronger. And he could feel it now. He winced with that next kick.

“Look there, that one looks good and big too!”

“Play the heart!” 

Heart? He knew his heart was up in his chest, not his stomach.

The sound came on, sounding faster than his own heartbeat, then the probe was moved over and he also heard that too. 

“All looks good.” The sound was turned off. Then he felt the probe being removed.

Shortly after, a cloth was used to wipe the gel off of his belly. Chamberlain tried to move again, to get up, but he was pulled back down. “Not yet.”

‘What more could you want?’ Chamberlain asked in his mind.

“Do you understand what was going on, Chamberlain, what we were doing with examining your stomach?” He was suddenly asked. 

He shook his head no. He knew he couldn’t exactly speak at the moment.

“I suppose you’ve been wondering what’s been going on inside that belly of yours for a long time now?” 

Of course he had, but he wasn’t about to admit it to total strange creatures he knew nothing about. But what did they want with his belly? 

“You have-” The leader began, but was stopped.

“Wait!” 

Chamberlain heard whispering, but couldn’t hear what was said. 

“Alright.” The leader said again. “Chamberlain, you do know about babies, don’t you?”

“Hmm?” Babies? What did that have to do with anything? But he nodded yes.

“Well, soon, you are going to have a baby, Chamberlain.”

Chamberlain jumped so fast and he struggled again.

“It’s alright! I know this is shocking, but fighting won’t help!”

“Let me go!” He tried to scream. He didn’t want to be forced to have a baby if that’s what they were going to do to him. 

“You are already carrying a baby, Chamberlain. That’s why your stomach has been on your nerves and worries a lot for a long time now.”

Chamberlain ceased struggling. But how could he be pregnant if he had never mated?

“I suppose you’re wondering how you could be pregnant? Well, let’s just say that we have been around and you didn’t see us, but making you go to sleep, and then we gave you this little gift to call your own. You’ll have the baby when it’s ready. Don’t worry, we won’t bother you again, but we just had to help you understand your condition. You’ll be fine. Just take care of yourself and the baby.”

“We’ll let you go now. I suppose you’ll know how to get out of here. We’ll release you as soon as we are packed up and going. So just relax here a little bit. But my friend is still over by you.” The leader said. 

SkekSil heard moving about around him and he assumed they were packing up. He wanted up now. He needed some time to think about what he had just been told. Though he found it impossible to believe at the moment. Why should he believe these creatures?

It didn’t take too long for the men to come back over and start to untie him. His legs were first, then his mouth. “And we’re sorry for cutting your hand, but we had to show you that we were serious.” 

Then his eyes were uncovered, then the last to be done was his hands.

Now that his mouth was untied, he asked, “Who are you?” 

“No one important. We’ll leave you alone now and you can get along with your life.” 

He saw the creatures backing off. Chamberlain was still lying on the floor. He was up on his elbow now, watching suspiciously. He had a mad glare on his face.

He heard a strange sound around the corner when they had backed off. Chamberlain hurriedly got up off the floor and went to see what it was.

Just as he got around the corner, he saw a portal disappear before his eyes. That made his angry glare disappear. But now what?

Right now, Chamberlain just wanted out of here just in case they came back for him again. He quickly headed for the upper level.

He headed for his room. He just needed some time to calm down and think about what had just happened to him. 

Once he was in his room, he instantly looked down at his right hand. He had temporarily forgotten about it. But he could feel the throbbing pain underneath the white bandage. Some of his blood had soaked through it. 

He chose to leave the wound alone for now and attend to it in the morning. But he couldn’t help but whine in pain. 

Chamberlain climbed into his bed and laid down on his back. He looked down at his belly. Was it true he could possibly have a baby in there? 

He felt some movement inside him and knew he had no choice but to accept what he had been told. He was officially pregnant. 

If he told the others, they would find it extremely hard to believe, since he hadn’t mated. And he knew none of the other Skeksis could hardly tolerate him. But this baby would be tolerating him as long it was inside his body. 

But Chamberlain had no idea of how to be a parent. He would be having to take care of it once it was born. 

Before the Gelfling slaughter, he had seen young ones grow up here and be born here before. But there had never been a baby Skeksis born before, given how much they hated each other. 

Chamberlain wondered how long he had till it was ready to be born. He knew giving birth involved a lot of pain too and wasn’t looking forward to that. But, starting tomorrow, he was going to start taking better care of himself. 

It took awhile of thinking, but eventually, sleep found him.


	6. Chapter 6

In the morning, Chamberlain awoke to what he had hoped had been a bad dream, but when he saw the bandage on his hand and the blood, he knew it had been no dream. He got up from his bed and he wanted to take a look at the wound. 

He found the place where it had been tied off and using his left one, he managed to untie the bandage and pulled it off. He looked down at his right hand and he saw the cut on top of it. It was a good sized one. 

He couldn’t help but lick the wound a little. The bandage was so blood soaked that he wasn’t going to reuse it either. He threw it into one of the fires burning in his room.

Though the wound was scabbed over now, it was big enough to probably draw attention or start bleeding again should it touch something. He looked for something new to wrap it up in. He didn’t see anything, but he knew the Scientist might be able to wrap it up.

Unlike his counterpart, Chamberlain’s second pair of arms were non-functional and he couldn’t wrap the wound up on his own. He reluctantly went to the lab to get the wound treated. This he could handle from SkekTek.   
….

“How did this happen, Chamberlain?” SkekTek asked. 

“It’s just a scratch.” He lied. 

“It’s too deep to be ’just a scratch.” 

The Scientist had looked at the wound and bandaged it up again for him.

“A sharp place on the wall I was passing last night near the lower levels.” Chamberlain said. He wasn’t about to speak of his embarrassment from that experience. 

He left the lab once he was sure the bandage was in place. But he wasn’t comfortable telling anyone about the possibility of a baby being born yet. 

Chamberlain was careful lifting things with the wounded hand, but he wasn’t letting it stop him from doing his jobs. He just did more with the left one.

No one even noticed his injury. The only one other than himself who knew of it was the Scientist, but even he went about his business. 

By the evening meal time though, SkekTek did get close to him and asked, “How’s the hand, Chamberlain?” 

He glanced around him. “Hmm. Fine, better.” 

A few of the others had been close enough to hear the comment, including the Emperor.

“What’s wrong with your hand?” The Emperor asked. 

Chamberlain held his bandaged one in the other. 

The Emperor could clearly see it was injured with that cloth wrapped on it, as he knew that the Chamberlain never had that on his hands. 

“It was just a bad scratch, Sire. It’s fine, really.” SkekSil said. 

“Good. Now to our evening meal.” The Emperor said. 

Chamberlain was glad to be getting more food into his system. But now he knew he was eating for more than himself. Though he knew he was eating for more than himself, he just didn’t know he was feeding 3 stomachs. 

He had been lied to about the twin. The scientists wanted him to find out on his own that there was an extra baby. 

Chamberlain thought carefully as he sat close by the Emperor. He thought about telling him about the baby, that a new Skeksis would soon be added to the clan, and maybe with that, he could gain some more favor. But, would he believe him?

He looked down at his food, not touching it for some time as he was thinking; debating whether to tell or not. 

“Chamberlain?” 

He snapped out of it when he heard his name. He looked to the right at his leader. 

“You look like something is wrong. You are not eating.” 

“I was just thinking about something. Something that could be of great use to our clan.” SkekSil replied. 

“And what’s that?” SkekZok asked. He was sitting on the other side of the Emperor. SkekUng sat on the other side of him. The General was paying attention.

In the General’s mind, he thought, ’What could Chamberlain possibly know that could benefit us other than my Garthim?’ 

“Would another Skeksis help us?” Chamberlain asked.

The others looked at him oddly. 

“What do you mean, another Skeksis? We are all here tonight.” The Emperor stated, trying to go about eating. 

“I mean if there were more of us.” Chamberlain said. “I know of a new one coming.”

“All of the others are dead. So what are you talking about?” SkekSo snapped at him.

Chamberlain winced at a kick in the belly. 

“Hmm! My baby!” He grabbed at his stomach.

The others looked at him weird again. 

Then he said it. “I’m having a baby!” 

Everyone stopped eating and looked at him. They couldn’t speak at the moment. 

“How are you having a baby?” The Scientist spoke up. It had clearly caught his interest most. 

“That part I don’t know how, but I know I’m having one.” Chamberlain tried to explain. “All my problems are the only answer to what it could be.” 

“Who is the expected father?” SkekSo asked. 

None of the others spoke up. 

“If no one is the father, you are not having a baby, Chamberlain.” SkekSo said. 

“Yes, Sire, I’m afraid I am. Please, believe me. It moves.” SkekSil had a hand on his belly. 

The others just couldn’t help at laugh at him. 

Why wouldn’t they believe him? A baby was a serious matter. Tears pricked his eyes. He didn’t know he was capable of crying. But he tried to hide them.

Chamberlain left the table to be alone. He had to get out of there. He knew it was a bad idea to tell them. But they would believe him later when he had it. 

He went back to his room and laid down. He pulled his clothes up to look at his belly to see if there was anything he could see in size.

Indeed, his belly did look bigger. He put a hand on it and rubbed. He instantly felt a kick beneath his hand. 

It was so strange feeling it. But in a way, it made him happy. 

The subject was never brought up again by Chamberlain as he didn’t want to be laughed at. His feelings were very sensitive right now. These feelings were just all too new to him. The feeling of wanting something so bad of his own to care for. He had never had that. This would be his chance. 

He just hoped that the rest of the pregnancy wouldn’t be too hard on him.


	7. Chapter 7

The other Skeksis often joked about Chamberlain behind his back or even to his face and it upset him a lot more over the following weeks. They still didn’t believe him about the baby. 

But what did they know? Nothing of how he was feeling. They didn’t know what it was like to have a living being inside them keeping them up at all hours of the night and wanting that sleep so bad that it left you tired and cranky the next day.

Soon enough though, the Emperor grew weary of all the jokes about the baby and he finally put an end to the joking. He summoned Chamberlain before him for the truth.

“Chamberlain, tell me the truth. Are you really having a baby? Your behavior has changed quite a lot.” The Emperor demanded to know.

The other Skeksis looked on with serious looks. All of them were in the Council Chamber at this moment. 

Chamberlain also had a serious look on his face and he looked up at his Emperor. “Yes, Sire. I am carrying a baby. I know because I can feel it inside me. It won’t let me sleep and remember I was sick all that time ago? It had to be the reason for my illness that wouldn’t go away for so long. But the part of how this happened to me is hard to explain. I don’t know how it happened.” He explained.

“I have to believe you on this matter, as in your behavior, you sleep a lot more, you eat a lot more, and you snap out at everyone around you.” The Emperor said.

Chamberlain smiled at his leader. 

“Just do what you will to take care of this baby then. It’s yours and your responsibility.” The Emperor said. 

“Thank you, my Emperor.” SkekSil bowed respectfully to him. 

“Is there also further proof of a baby?” SkekEkt asked.

Chamberlain turned to look at the Ornamentalist. 

“Yes, SkekEkt, there is. Aside from the moving inside me, my belly has grown too.” Chamberlain said. 

“Now that you mention it, from what I can see from here, you do look fatter.” The Scientist spoke up. 

Chamberlain didn’t exactly like being called fat, but he knew it was true. But he had always been naturally so skinny. With the way that he hadn’t eaten much at the beginning of the pregnancy, he almost feared that the baby might be harmed by not eating enough, and he was determined to keep himself fed now to make sure he and his child were well fed. It relied on him for all its needs right now.

As for the others, as much as they disliked each other, there were some that got along and worked better than others. Some felt like maybe because of the way the Chamberlain had blackmailed them in the past, maybe getting the baby away from Chamberlain when it was born would be better than letting Chamberlain raise it to be another schemer like himself. 

Chamberlain was sure the Emperor would want to see the baby when it was born. He would be happy to let him see it, but until then. 

“How much longer till you think the baby will be born?” The Emperor asked SkekSil. 

Chamberlain looked back to the leader. “I seriously don’t know, my Lord. It’s been a long time already. It must be a short time now. None of us has ever had a baby before.”

“I must be told of when it is coming.” The Emperor declared. 

“Yes, my Lord.” Chamberlain said. 

When he was allowed to leave, now that hopefully the others finally believed him, Chamberlain knew he was going to have to watch himself and how he was feeling. He had no idea when the baby could come. And once it did come, he would be watching his clan, in case they ever decided to use his child against him. There were plenty of things they would want to get back at him for for what he had done in the past against them. 

Chamberlain had just always wanted to be in the Emperor’s favor. He had to find ways to get what he wanted or needed. Though the baby was not a false telling.   
……..

It took many more weeks of just doing what he did for his job around the Castle. 

Chamberlain’s belly just got bigger. He would check it every few days. But he felt the babies move every day and night. But the bigger the babies got, the more uncomfortable SkekSil became. Of course, he still didn’t know he had twins.

It became harder to breathe and sleep. He couldn’t lay on his back all that much. Much of the moving around felt more like rolling around inside of him, but he could still feel squirming and kicks.

But another thing came along too as he was nearing the birth; practice contractions. Chamberlain felt them right now as only like cramps. They weren’t extremely painful, just annoying. He would have them a few times a day and normally came on about nearly the same time every day. 

Chamberlain had no idea how long he had been pregnant, but he was within the 32 week range now. 

The pregnant Skeksis was also really keeping an eye out for those strange creatures too, in case they ever should come back and try to attack him again. They had been the cause for this pregnancy anyway, but if Chamberlain had knew what they had done to him, he would have tried to tell what happened. He wasn’t above letting certain details be told if it was that important. And he didn't want them to get their hands on his baby either even though they had told him they were going to leave him alone. 

Often on days when Chamberlain stayed on his feet too long working, he did feel like his feet hurt and they did swell up. His back would start hurting. And his lower region was hurting in his hips too. 

His hips were widening up for the birth.

His breasts were right above his belly, and they began to feel strange too the closer he was getting. They were feeling tender and sore, but they were all getting swollen too, as they were recognizing that his body was carrying children and they were to have a job to feed them soon. But they weren’t fully ready to feed the babies just yet. The milk production was just getting ready to start.

When Chamberlain’s body was just starting to hurt too much, he would retreat to his room and lay down. And with the lack of sleep at night, he would also tend to sleep in the daytime to try to catch up on his sleep.

The others all watched for signs of when he might be having his baby. SkekSil was miserable, there was no doubt about that. Sure, he wanted his baby, but he didn’t like what he was having to deal with now with all these aches and pains. He just figured it was part of it, and it was. 

Often, he couldn’t help but wonder how all those girl creatures out there that carried and gave birth all the time. 

He just hoped he would also survive the birth process, because he knew it was going to be painful. And some mothers died in childbirth too. Chamberlain didn't want that to happen to him, or else, how could his little one survive? And he certainly didn't want the others raising it.


	8. Chapter 8

Chamberlain made it to the 37th week when he was in bed one night in a deep sleep, but was awoken by a deep pain coming from his stomach.

At first he moaned, then the pain got worse, his belly muscles tightening harder.

His hands clung to his belly. His eyes were closed tightly in pain. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and he let out a scream. 

When two minutes finally passed, the contraction passed, and Chamberlain let out a big breath of air. 

“Oh, is that what those pains feel like?” He had to ask. He had never felt pain like that before in his life. But then they would be getting worse as time went on.

Chamberlain had just felt his first active contraction. 

His belly by now, even from underneath his clothes, was huge. The clan knew he was indeed pregnant now. They knew that he couldn’t be pregnant for much longer.

Well, the moment had finally arrived, but it was still a matter of how long it took SkekSil’s body to decide it was ready to help get the babies out. They had been in his body long enough and they were ready for life outside the body now. 

Chamberlain was up for the rest of the night, waiting out contractions and screaming with every one. He couldn’t help it that it hurt so bad. 

Soon enough, his screaming had awoken quite a few of the other Skeksis and they all came to his room, really upset and angry that he wasn’t letting them sleep. 

“Hey! Be quiet, Chamberlain!” The General yelled at him when he came in. 

“Can’t help it! Pain!” Chamberlain snapped at him. “Comes on so much now.”

The Historian, Slave Master, and the Gourmand were all in Chamberlain’s room now. Their eyes all widened at what he had just said. 

“Pain so bad, think the baby is coming!” Chamberlain shrieked before another one came on, and it was a struggle to breathe through it, resulting in more screaming. 

The Gourmand went to get the Ornamentalist, as he was sort of one of the Chamberlain’s allies, and had wanted to see the baby when it was born. 

The Historian went to get the Scientist and the Emperor, as the Emperor had wanted to be notified of when the baby was coming. The Scientist was probably the best in the business at the moment to deliver Chamberlain’s baby.

And also soon enough, the last two Skeksis woke up in the morning, SkekZok and SkekShod, had heard the screaming and came to Chamberlain’s room, and were seeing that SkekSil was in horrendous pain. 

The Gourmand wasn’t so crazy seeing his special friend, the Ornamentalist, near the Chamberlain all that much, but he was trying to offer encouragement to the Chamberlain to try to breathe through the pains. 

“It hurts!” Chamberlain screamed. One hand was on his belly and the other squeezed his sheets so tightly.

“We know, but you have to be able to breathe and deliver this baby.” SkekEkt said. 

The Scientist was given the order from the Emperor to deliver the baby. And he was going to do it. 

When this contraction had passed, Scientist now approached the panting Chamberlain’s bed.   
Chamberlain instantly tensed up and growled at him. He pulled his legs and tail close to his body.

“In order for me to deliver that baby, Chamberlain, you’ll have to let me look at you.” SkekTek said. 

“He knows more of the gross stuff and is the best to deliver your baby, Chamberlain.” The Emperor said. “You need to let him look at you or we can force you to let him look.”

“All I can say is you better not hurt my baby!” SkekSil growled at the Scientist.

Chamberlain looked at the Emperor and SkekEkt and they were giving him certain looks that said let the Scientist look or else. The others had that look too. And Chamberlain was too weak to move hardly. But he did put his legs back down.

The blanket was pulled off of him and his clothing was pulled up and out of the way so the Scientist could examine him more fully.

The Scientist was finally happy to get a look at the Chamberlain’s belly. He could see just how big the belly had gotten. 

“Oh!” Chamberlain moaned and the others knew another pain was coming on. He braced himself for the pain to come. He hunched forward now, clutching his exposed belly in pain, trying to breathe. He also couldn’t help baring his teeth this time either.

“Aaaaaagh! It hurts!” SkekSil cried.

Once it passed, he laid back again, panting hard. 

Now was the time to get the look if the baby was coming down or not. It involved having to reach inside the pregnant Skeksis and he wasn’t crazy for his deliverer. But this needed to be done. 

Back in the days of when Gelflings lived here in the Castle, some Gelflings had had babies before and the Scientist had seen what they had done, so he was knowing what to do. 

While Chamberlain was lying on his back catching his breath, the Scientist reached in to check on the baby’s progress.

Chamberlain instantly tensed up and tried to move, but SkekEkt immediately pushed him back down. “Don’t! He must check you!”

SkekSil was still tense, but he let him, grimacing at the discomfort. 

SkekTek pulled his hand loose. “It will still be awhile yet. The pelvis is widened enough in you, and the head is making it’s way down slowly. It will not be without pain.”

‘Great.’ Chamberlain said. He wanted this baby out of him now.   
……

Several hours later, many of the other Skeksis had left the room to escape the screaming, but would come back from time to time to check and see if there was a baby born yet. Most of the activities and jobs had been put on hold because of the expected arrival of the baby. 

By this time, Chamberlain felt the deepest burning down in his lower region. His water had also broken long ago. 

“Aaagh! It burns! Feel like want to push!” He cried.

The Scientist and Ornamentalist were still in his room however. The Scientist checked him again. “It’s time for the baby to come out now. Whenever you’re ready, Chamberlain.”

Following his instincts of what his body was telling him, the intense burning told him to bear down and push. He pushed with all the strength he had in him, using muscles he didn’t know he could use. 

The contraction passed and he had to catch his breath again. It was only the first pushing. It might still take a little time, but the baby was going to come out.

After several more pushes, the Scientist said, “I now see something. The head.”

Chamberlain was happy to hear that his child would soon be out of him and he could see him. It made him bear down harder with every push. 

On the next contraction, as Chamberlain was pushing, SkekTek took a gentle hold on the head and gently guided the head and shoulders out of the birth canal. It took one final push from Chamberlain before he was finally delivered. 

Chamberlain panted so hard and he laid back against his bed.

The Scientist began to wipe the baby with a cloth to dry him off after the umbilical cord was severed.

“How does he look?” SkekEkt asked.

The baby now began to cry, and Chamberlain had never been happier to hear it.

The Scientist now came over and put the baby Skeksis on Chamberlain’s chest.

SkekSil instantly put his hands on his child as he looked down at it. “Hello, Little One- oh!” He felt another pain coming on. “More pain!” He cried while clutching his current baby. 

“Hmm, must be another one coming.” The Scientist said.

“What?!” SkekEkt said. 

“SkekEkt, take that baby while Chamberlain works on this next baby.” 

“I want- to hold- him!” SkekSil said through his pain.

“No. You can have him back after the second one is born.” The Scientist said. “Now push! Take the baby!” He barked the order again to SkekEkt.

The Ornamentalist quickly took the baby from Chamberlain’s hands. It was safer this way until the twin was born. 

Chamberlain was ready for all this painful stuff to be over with. Not more pushing. He was all wore out from pushing the first one out. But the burning was building again and once again, he bore down with what strength he had left. He hoped he wouldn’t have to do this too many more times. 

So he was having an extra baby. That was great! But he just hated this pushing time. 

Chamberlain held his breath a little when he pushed, but each contraction ended with him screaming. And once each one was over, he laid back heaving for breath. He wished he could have a slightly longer break from the contractions. They were like 2 minutes apart right now. And it was at least one minute of pushing, holding his breath, and screaming when he’d had enough of it. 

The Scientist wanted so much just to stuff something in SkekSil’s mouth just to stop his screaming. This was the first Skeksis birth he was dealing with and didn’t know if he could ever deal with another. 

The Ornamentalist was still offering encouragement and holding the first baby so Chamberlain could look at him between pushes. It was to offer all the encouragement that he could get to want to deliver the second one as quickly as possible.

Several more pushes later, the twin was finally born.

Chamberlain fell back against his pillows this time as he huffed out a big breath of air. He now hoped this was all over. He had no strength left to move. His sides were now heaving. 

SkekTek severed the cord again and began to clean the twin off. Once the airway was clear enough, this baby too began to cry. 

Though still trying to catch his breath, Chamberlain managed a smile. He was happy it was over and he had two babies! 

“Here! Here’s the second one. SkekEkt.” The Scientist said as he now laid the twin on SkekSil‘s abdomen. 

SkekEkt gave the first baby back to his ‘mother’ as well.

Chamberlain finally had enough energy to bring his head forward to look at the two babies lying on his middle. 

As he looked at them, he saw that they had some differences compared to him and his fellow adult Skeksis. They were very small of course, and they had four arms. But they had no spikes on their backs. They also didn’t have teeth. What were they going to eat if they didn’t have teeth?!

The second born baby was on Chamberlain’s belly and was squirming around as Chamberlain put his right hand on him. He seemed to be searching for something, and as SkekSil’s clothing was still pulled up to keep it out of the way for the birth, the baby squirmed himself up high enough on Chamberlain’s belly and then he found something: the breasts.

The baby was clearly hungry and searching for its first meal. It was mouthing a lot and as he found the breasts, he latched on and started nursing. 

Chamberlain instantly tensed because his breasts were really sore and tender, being so full of milk and nothing to release the discomfort, until now. 

“Agh! That hurts too!” He started to take his hands to take the baby off of his breast, but he was stopped when SkekEkt grabbed his shoulder.

“Don’t. That’s going to be your babies’ food source, as we see they don’t have teeth, Chamberlain.” The Ornamentalist said. 

Chamberlain looked back down at the suckling baby. He could feel the weird sensation of the nursing, but now that the baby had settled in to nursing, the sensation of pain began to dwindle. The other baby was also looking for his first meal too.

Chamberlain moved the first born down to his other breast and he found it and latched on as well. Another feeling of pain as the baby first latched on, but it was just the tightness of the skin being so stretched and full of milk. The babies’ nursing would help to get the milk out and relieve the discomfort. 

As Chamberlain was nursing, he still felt some minor contractions, of which he barely noticed as he watched his twins feed from him. 

But the Scientist wasn’t finished yet. He now stepped in again and though SkekSil glared at him to keep his distance, SkekTek said, “I must deliver this afterbirth now. It’s not as painful to deliver this as it is a baby.” 

“Fine. Get it out of me.” Chamberlain growled. He went back to watching his babies.

SkekTek went to pull gently on the afterbirth. But he knew that only Chamberlain could help push it out. “You’re going to have to help push this thing out too. But you don’t have to bear down as hard like before with the babies.” He said. 

The nursing from the twins was also encouraging Chamberlain’s womb to contract to expel the afterbirth too. But Chamberlain did begin to push again with his abdominal muscles while the Scientist pulled on a cord. And it didn’t take long for the placenta to come out too with a rush of more fluid and blood.

Chamberlain knew that he was going to want to get rid of that bedding now. He couldn’t believe at what the Scientist had pulled out of him last. He felt really humiliated.

But now, the stress of labor was truly over for SkekSil and he now had two babies to enjoy and take care of. His body would recover over the coming days.

“So, have you decided on names?” The Ornamentalist asked.

Chamberlain looked down at them. “Sha and Shen. SkekSha and SkekShen.” 

The Scientist left for his lab after hearing him name the twins. The Ornamentalist then left too so Chamberlain and his twins could bond. But he did go tell the Emperor that the babies had arrived. 

The Emperor had wanted to know when the baby came after all, but he hadn’t been expecting to hear of two babies being born. Just one of those surprises when you don’t know how many you’re having. 

The rest of the Skeksis were in the Throne Room as well and heard of the news, and following their Emperor, they all went to the Chamberlain’s room to see the new arrivals.

Chamberlain had by this time laid his head back into the pillows, too exhausted to move. His twins were still nursing as the rest of the clan filed in. He wasn’t asleep yet, but he did have his eyes closed. He had been so exhausted, he barely heard his clan come in. 

The Emperor saw Chamberlain with his head laid back. “Chamberlain.”

SkekSil opened his tired eyes. “Hmm? Sire?” 

“I was informed of two babies being born. I need to see them.” The Emperor said.

“They are feeding now. Their names are SkekSha and SkekShen.”

The Emperor and the rest of the Skeksis clan gathered around the bed to see the twins. They could see the lack of spikes on their backs and they looked well fed for Skeksis babies. But their faces looked a lot like Chamberlain’s. And they could see the lack of teeth, hence why they were nursing.

For a brief time, all the adult Skeksis’ faces softened. Parenthood so far seemed to suit the Chamberlain. 

Chamberlain used his soft voice to whimper soothing sounds to the babies to comfort them. They finally let go of his breasts and yawned. Now that they had their bellies full, they were tired.

After being patted on the back to get burps out, Sha and Shen were in for their first naps. They cuddled into their ‘mother’s’ body warmth.

Chamberlain smiled down at them and still uttered soothing whines to them. His voice could be good for that.

“Now that we have seen the new arrivals, we must let them rest and recover from their ordeal.” The Emperor said and he ordered them all to leave. 

For the other Skeksis, if any of them had planned on taking SkekSil’s twins, it would be impossible right now. They were too young to be away from him for long. It was clear the babies couldn’t eat solid food right now. 

When his clan was gone, he moved the babies onto the side of bed so he could pull his clothing back down. Right now, his bedding was ruined and he needed his clothes to help keep him warm in bed. But when he was done with that, he wrapped his babies up in the blankets that weren’t ruined and kept them close to him.

He finally drifted off to sleep for the first time in hours. His body needed time now to heal itself.   
…….

UrSol the Chanter over in the urRu Valley had also felt every single pain his counterpart had felt, but he hadn’t been pregnant. So there were now two new Skeksis, but they didn’t have urRu counterparts. 

The Chanter was now able to rest as these pains had finally ceased. He had never felt that kind of pain before. And the others had done what they could for him, but nothing had helped much until it was over.


	9. Chapter 9

Soon after getting some good sleep, Chamberlain awoke and he found his twins still next to him. Right now, it seemed like it had all been a dream to have gone through all that.

He got up and wanted to finally walk around. He felt sore and weak yet, but he needed to get up and walk. He walked a little around his room once he was on his feet.

He moved his babies gently to the table in his room. It had a cloth on it. He just needed them there while he removed his old bedding that was now ruined by the birth.

Once the bedding was off, he began to tear up the good parts and he made a sling and he wrapped it around himself and he put the twins in it. That way, he could keep them with him and he could keep an eye on the others and the twins.

The others didn’t expect to see Chamberlain out of bed so soon. They were all in the dining room, and though Chamberlain wasn’t big time hungry, he had been seeking out the Ornamentalist to tell him to make some new bedding for him. He might have also wanted a little something to eat to help get at least a little food in his system so Sha and Shen could get more food later when they were ready to eat again. 

The Emperor noticed that the Chamberlain did have a different look to his walking. It was because he was still so sore from the birth. He would cut him some slack until he was well again. 

Right now, the main names were Sha and Shen for the twins, but their job titles would come along later when it was discovered what they could do. But being SkekSil’s offspring, more than likely taking after his habits. 

Over the following days, Chamberlain grew more used to parenthood. He kept his twins close to him nearly at all times. He rested a lot while he was still having stomach cramps and nursed the babies. And eventually, SkekEkt brought in new bedding to replace the old bedding.

The babies would get restless when they were hungry and even cry a little bit, and when they did, Chamberlain took them aside privately and let them nurse. His milk would also tend to leak when they cried, so he had to let them nurse. The discomfort in his breasts had now diminished as the milk he carried was at a more comfortable level.

The first two weeks were the worst in recovery time with the cramps, but after that, Chamberlain began to feel more better and walked around more. He began his daily duties again, carrying Sha and Shen in their sling so his hands could be free to do needed stuff.

Even during his recovery though, he had still came to the Crystal ceremony every day and meals once he gained an appetite back. It had taken about 2 days for that, as his stomach muscles had been so sore from delivering the twins.   
……..

As time went on, the twins soon were weaned off of Chamberlain’s milk when they started to get teeth. And when they got big enough to walk, spikes started to grow on their backs.

It took a few years for SkekSha and SkekShen to gain job titles, but when they were finally old enough, from what they inherited from their father/mother, the Chamberlain, Sha became the Schemer, and Shen became the Joker.

SkekSil had kept a watchful eye over his twins and had proved to be a great parent. They were so much like him, so he had encouraged his children to do their own thing.

The other Skeksis couldn’t have expected much less of Chamberlain’s offspring to turn out as they did. Of course, they learned battle skills too, but these were also Skeksis students who were much younger than the adults and could move a lot quicker too. 

The adults had had that energy back in the days of youth too, but now, they could only marvel at the younger generation. And after watching these two grow up, some of them were tempted to want to start having some offspring of their own too. Though with them, it would involve mating. Chamberlain hadn’t had that option. Sha and Shen were purely of only his DNA. 

The Emperor at least had been impressed in how they had grown up. They were eager students and liked learning what the adults knew, though there were still times when things had to be kept restricted till they were more older. 

Sha and Shen were teenagers now. They both looked alike and had many things in common. They got along fairly well, but still had bouts of fights. But they were mostly each other’s best friend, hence they were all they had of their own age. And of course, they got along fine with their father/mother. 

Sha wore greenish clothing with some light yellow added. He also had some jewels on his arms. His brother, Shen, wore a more yellowish one, mixed with red and orange and some small little bells jingling all the time. 

Sha and Shen also had whimpers too, but they didn’t whine all the time.

Overall, SkekSil the Chamberlain had been shocked to find he was pregnant all those years ago, and got the surprise of twins at birth, and found that they were a great gift to him. The Emperor had made sure that he raised his kids himself, hard or not, though he wasn’t above the others helping to teach them things as they grew older.

It had been a hard road to get his kids to this age of 17, but he couldn’t be happier than to have them now at his side. They had made him much happier over the years when many of the clan had ignored him so much. They had changed his life for the better.

And as for the alien men who had gotten him pregnant in the first place, as promised, they never came back. But on their world, they did have a special orb that was like a TV and they could see what was happening. They saw how the twins had been growing up and how SkekSil was a good ‘mother.’ They were proud of what they had given him. 

The End


End file.
